The Nigerian Agip Oil Company, a subsidiary of Italian oil major, Eni, said it had begun feasibility studies for the construction of a new 150,000 barrels-of-oil-per-day refinery in the Niger Delta.
The Vice-Chairman and Managing Director, NAOC, Mr. Massimo Insulla, disclosed this on Tuesday in Yenagoa during a two-day succession planning workshop for NAOC’s small and medium-scale vendors.
He said the workshop was targeted at equipping proprietors and managers of SMEs with skills and best practices in planning for the continuity and sustainability of their businesses.
Insulla also highlighted NAOC’s efforts towards creating the enabling environment for oil and gas businesses to thrive including the planned construction of the refinery in the region.
The managing director said, ‘’Eni, our parent company, is committed to expand our operations and grow Nigerian content.
‘’We are implementing a number of projects in the Nigerian oil and gas industry as well as energy sector including our Zabazaba deep offshore project, ongoing feasibility for the construction of a brand-new 150,000 barrel-of-oil-per-day refinery, support for refurbishment of Port Harcourt refinery, efficiency of the national grid, alternative energy mix, etc.’’
Insulla also said Eni had spent over $5.4bn in-country in the last six years to grow Nigerian content.
On his part, the Governor of Bayelsa State, Mr. Seriake Dickson, who declared the workshop open, identified the development of small and medium-scale businesses as key to jumpstart economic growth and sustainability in Nigeria.
Dickson charged Bayelsa businessmen and women to take advantage of the opportunities provided by the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board to grow and sustain their businesses.
He said access to capital remained the major constraint in the development and sustainability of business, and called on the people of Bayelsa to get actively involved in the oil and gas industry to enable them to take charge of their local economy.
He lauded NAOC and its joint venture partners for organising the workshop, urging the oil company to avail the government of the statistics of indigenous businesses it had been able to empower through the business finance scheme.
He reiterated his position on the relocation of the corporate offices of international oil companies to their primary places of operation in the Niger Delta, imploring the NCDMB to expedite work on its 17-storey headquarters building in Yenagoa.
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